Exploring the world of USB audio hardware and electronic sound

The Spark Digital by Blue Microphones is one of the latest additions to Blue’s range of USB microphones that are iPad/iOS compatible (Along with the Mikey Digital – which isn’t available until 1st August 2012 and Mikey for iPod).

The Spark digital isn’t an XLR mic, but it is based upon the same capsule and technology as the original XLR version of the Spark, to give studio grade condenser mic performance.

If you want a mic that can perform with your iPad (can also perform with your desktop or laptop) and is suitable for a range of audio capture scenarios. But don’t want to mess around with camera adapter kits, then you must investigate this mic.

Blue Microphones bill this one as ‘the first studio grade mic to offer both USB and iPad connectivity’ which supports driverless operation for iPad, Mac and PC.

It comes with complete with a shock mount/desk stand as pictured above and has a number of innovative features, as you’d expect from a Blue Microphones product.

Gain, volume and ‘instant mute’ are all controlled by the dial/push button on the front of the device.

On the rear there’s a ‘Focus Control’ selection button which provides 2 ‘sonic options’ to modify the sound pickup characteristics of the Spark Digital. When Focus Control is engaged the sound pick up is said to become a little warmer and richer.

The Spark digital comes with 2 y-cables (one USB and one dock connector type) which each incorporate a stereo headphone output to enable you to do zero-latency monitoring of your audio source.